Mekakushi Apartments
by artsybeanpole
Summary: Seto is homesick in his new apartment after Summertime Record, but it seems that the dan isn't as separated as they thought they were. Featuring Seto the Maryaholic, Shintaro the Colaholic, Kano the actual alcoholic, and a slightly taller Hibiya.


Seto fumbled with the keys to his apartment with cold fingertips, his nose red and his breath puffing white into the morning air. He finally pulled out a small golden key, and turned it with an audible 'click.'

It was still early, and the thin morning sunlight streaming into the new apartment cast long, lonely shadows in the empty room. The floor creaked in protest as he stepped in, pulling off his shoes, and he slid down against the wall, and raised his head, breathing a long column of frosty white above him. It had been a long day.

He dragged his suitcase in and collapsed on the floor, exhausted, and could dimly hear the jingling of his neighbor's keys next door. He laid his head against the cold wood and closed his eyes.

 _She smiled at him, with pink eyes, went up on her tiptoes and kissed him with warm lips, though her hands were cold._

" _I don't want goodbye yet," she said against his lips, her pretty pink eyes glimmering with tears. He laughed, and swung her around, and they giggled like schoolchildren as he kissed her, again and again, until he was drunk with the taste of chamomile and sweet flowers on his lips._

" _Seto," she said, and he had never wanted anyone else to say his name again._

He woke up, and pressed the back of his hand against his eyelids. It was wet.

He sat up, slowly, his back sore from the awkward position he had been sleeping in, and rubbed the back of his neck, and the wintry air he breathed in smelled a little like chamomile.

He slapped his cheeks, and shook his head vigorously, trying to get rid of the chamomile scent floating around in his head. _"Seto," she laughed, and her smile glowed at him like a flower field in bloom._

He poured himself a cup of black coffee, and downed it, feeling lightheaded from the taste of her on his lips, and wiped away the dream on his sleeve. This was bad-he was already missing her this much, and it had only been a month since they had all parted ways. He could smell her scent even as he gulped down another mouthful of coffee, and he felt like screaming. He had promised her that they would be fine, he reminded himself, as he slammed the cup down on the counter, empty.

The suitcase sat, lonely, in the middle of the living room, thin morning light filtering dancing slits of light along the case. He walked to it, numbly, and sat next to it, the mass of the wood comforting. He buried his face into the side, and sighed again, raising his hand to fiddle with the wheel, turning it round and round. Honestly, what was he doing? How could Mary wait for someone in a state like this? He was too pathetic; pining away for her when she believed that he was strong, independent, her 'Seto.'

A flicker of a smile flashed across his face as he remembered her smile that would unfailingly receive him when he came through the door, in those days, and suddenly felt a wave of heartache for Kido's cooking wash over him. He really, really wanted to eat her curry again, after all.

He rolled around on the suitcase, the rough texture cold against his skin. He had to go to work, today, but somehow, even after the coffee he had drunk, he felt tired, incredibly tired, the kind of tired where he was homesick for Kido abusing Kano for saying something stupid _._ He wanted to see Momo pulling around Hibiya around town, seeing Ene teasing Shintaro on their trips. He was homesick for seeing Konoha discreetly sneak negima from festival stalls, for Kano and his quiet conversations at night. Most of all, he was homesick for _Mary,_ Mary and her soft lips and shy smile and her soft creamy hair that he would braid with her in the afternoons, her delightful laughter when he carried her on his back, the exhilarating feeling that erased any feeling of exhaustion whenever she leapt at him and said, snuggling into his chest, "Welcome home!" and her slim body cuddled against his whenever it was cold at night, and…

He blushed at the next thought, and decided that maybe he should stop missing _that,_ they were a little young for _that,_ and besides, it had only happened once, and he had mostly forced her into it since he had urges. He let out a long sigh again, and ran a hand through his hair. "I want to see you again," he said into the air, absentmindedly, and hoped that Mary wouldn't mind it if he was a little selfish behind the scenes.

"Seto?" a voice said, confused, from the still-open doorway, and Seto mumbled, still caught up in his own thoughts, "I love you, Mary, but not yet, I'm still homesick for Kido's curry, but I wish she wouldn't make it with carrots, she cooks them a little too raw, and…"

His head shot up so quickly that he forgot he was leaning near the wall and he hit his head, hard, against the plaster. His vision was swaying from the hit, but he was very sure that it was her, and she was coming closer, touching his cheek. Her hands were cold, he thought, and for some reason, he felt his cheeks flame all the way up to his ears. "Seto? Are you ok? You were mumbling about something…um, I think I have band aids in here…" the blur fumbled at their purse, long white hair tumbling around their shoulders, and, still woozy, Seto grabbed her wrist, somehow, through his vision, and managed, "N-no."

She looked up, her gentle face concerned and worried. His vision was steady, now, and she was beautiful, with the ruffled curly cascade around her, and her neck, he thought, was more mature—like a swan's, and her eyes were pink, a painfully soft rose, and he pulled her wrist towards her and kissed her full on the lips.

She flailed, confused and shocked, against him, but he kissed her, passionately, roughly, with a month of missing, and she eventually succumbed, hesitantly kissing back. He wrapped his hands around her waist, and she fit perfectly against him, drinking in the intoxicating scent of chamomile. Mary pulled him away first, her scarf (he scarcely had the time to notice what she was wearing) disheveled, and she stammered, her face heavily flushed, "U-um, one second, I, uh, need to catch my breath—"

He pulled her towards him again, and he wouldn't let her go or even think about why she was here at all, just relishing the feel of her for the next 10 minutes, until Shintaro passed by and commented, wryly, "Are you done, or are you going to let me in? It's freezing out here."

The two pulled away, red faced, and backed from one end of the room to the other in the space of 2 seconds. "U-um, yeah," Seto stuttered, and pushed the suitcase out of the way, noticing another one, Mary's, from her old house in the forest, next to his and another, with a red bean soda sticker on it. He ushered him in, and thankfully, Shintaro didn't tease them about the incident, popping a previously non-existent cola bottle from his fridge. "So Mary's moving in too? And Momo's coming with you, too?" Seto said, almost dropping the 3 cups he was juggling in one hand, managing to place them on the counter with his incredulity at the coincidence. Shintaro nodded, taking a long drink from his cola bottle, the red matching his trademark jersey. "Oh, and that blond haired bastard is moving in too, 2 doors down."

Seto looked at him, confused, until someone with blond hair burst inside, with a certain pattern of black and white on an old jacket. "Helloooo, brother! Getting into that action early in the morning, I see." He winked saucily at the two, and their faces practically exploded with red, from the bottom of their necks up to their scalp, and Shintaro took another long draught from his cola bottle, watching them amusedly from the rim.

"Konoha and Hibiya are stopping by later, too," Kano informed them, graciously taking another previously non-existent can of beer from the fridge, leaning against the counter, a complaining look on his face as he waved the can around. "Can you believe it? That brown haired brat is already as tall as me!" Shintaro accidently slipped out a laugh, and stuffed it back in with a nasty look from Kano. Mary giggled, and she stood up proudly. "I'm taller than you, now, too!" Kano flinched, and his image flickered with a flash of red eyes. "Not for long!"

Seto walked over with another filled cup of coffee for himself in his hand, and he took a sip as he watched them with a smile hidden behind the rim, it tasted a little sweeter than usual, he thought, and though he didn't usually like sweet coffee, he found himself liking it immensely. Mary went back to him, a Shintaro drunken on cola and Kano actually drunk arguing over the counter, and she smiled at him, softly, and he felt his heart melt again. He pretended to take another long sip to hide how easily he had been swayed, and watched the duo with amusement. "Kousuke," he looked over, half sip, "You know…" Mary was looking at them, then she stared at Seto with soft pink eyes, and his heart melted as if exposed to the surface of the sun, which perhaps it was already, currently. She leaned against him, just a little, and he felt his upper body go rigid, "I missed you a lot." This part she said softer, just loud enough for him to hear.

He nodded, stiffly (he had had so little normal Mary exposure that he had to get used to it all over again), and said, slowly relaxing as he breathed in the scent of chamomile in, "Yeah. Me too." Mary looked up at him, surprised, and leaned against him more, closing her eyes, a slight smile on her lips. "Really? Not as much as I missed you." Seto shook his head, and watched as Kano threw a blunt object in the form of another previously non-existent can of red bean soda from the fridge at Shintaro, the instant Momo stepped in, dragging a sulking, surprisingly tall Hibiya behind her. He leaned his taller head against hers, and smiled. "No. You have no idea."

She laughed, under her breath, and flashed a playful smile up at him. "I could tell, from that kiss." He turned red again, and then she laughed, genuinely, cheerful and tinkling, and he relaxed again, though his cheeks were still dusted red. "You surprised me, but, well… it's not like it was a bad surprise." He looked at her face, and now it was her turn to blush. "W-well, I missed you a lot too…!" He laughed out loud, and hugged her tight.

"So we're not really separated, are we?" Kido seemed to appear out of nowhere (though it was normal, due to her power) and hit all of them on the backs of their head, yelling about how they shouldn't make trouble in Seto's new place, weren't they ashamed of themselves? and if she was going to agree to live with them, they had better get their shit together. He nodded, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her tight. "I guess you really can't break us up no matter where we are." She looked up at him again with those rosy eyes, and he had the feeling she didn't mean the dan.

"No," he said, and kissed her again, feeling drunk himself, if one could get drunk off of chamomile, "We're not."

A/N: Because it hurts too much to think of them all _really_ parting ways. It would be funny if Hibiya got run over by a truck on the way in and everyone would sigh and think, Ah, memories. That's what I think whenever Kagerou Days comes on, anyway.


End file.
